State of the Union News

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair came to President Barack Obama's defense on Sunday after a scathing New York Times editorial accused the White House of losing legitimacy and strategic standing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

President Barack Obama faces pressure from fellow Democrats, opposition Republicans and the international community even before he announces long-awaited plans on Tuesday for a big U.S. troop increase in Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama likely will call for sending additional troops to Afghanistan when he delivers a speech to the nation Tuesday.

In his Crib Sheet, CNN's John King looks back at Sunday's talk shows and ahead to the topics that will be making news this week.

Sunday's political talk shows provided a glimpse of the directions in which President Obama's Afghanistan decisions will be pulled, as a key Democrat said his party wants to turn the fight against the Taliban over to Afghan forces, and the Senate's No.

A top Republican senator wants to postpone efforts to overhaul health care until next year so Congress can concentrate on how to pay for President Barack Obama's expected plans for expanding military operations in Afghanistan.

November 22, 2009 Sunday 4:55 PM EST SECTION: POLITICS LENGTH: 1081 words HEADLINE: Senate Dems suggest they're open to altering health care bill DATELINE: Washington Amid conflicting and heated rhetoric, a political pragmatism began to emerge Sunday as senators prepared for a debate on a sweeping Democratic health care bill.

The Senate is set to begin debate Monday on its version of a sweeping legislation to remake the U.S. health care system, a showdown likely to last for weeks.

I just re-read the highly-recommended Plentiful Energy and the IFR Story by Charles Till, former director of civilian nuclear power reactor development at Argonne National Laboratory.

Oh, beloved martyrs. Leaders of the rabble. Fearless masters of decency. Save us from ourselves.

Senate Democrats on Sunday sparred with each other over how to fix the nation's troubled health care system.

It will be another week before senators begin floor debate on the Democrats' health care overhaul bill, but many in Washington are already predicting the demise of its current provision for a modest government-run insurance program.

Senate Democrats cleared a major hurdle this weekend by voting to move ahead with debate on health care reform, but it was hardly a unified party standing behind the bill.

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. View Larger U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado indicated on national television Sunday that he would vote for health-care reform legislation even if he believed it would cost him a shot at election next year.

Buoyed by their weekend victory on a vote beginning the health care debate, several Senate Democrats expressed optimism yesterday they could find a way to keep a government-run insurance plan in the sweeping bill.

WITH THE US Senate's approval of a motion to proceed on Saturday, US president Barack Obama's chief domestic priority passed what the president's office called "a critical milestone" on the road to healthcare reform.

" A freshman Democratic senator said Sunday that he will support his party's efforts to pass health care reform legislation even if that means losing his seat in next year's midterm elections.

US President George Bush identifies Iraq along with Iran and North Korea as an "axis of evil" in his State of the Union address 14 May UN Security Council revamps the 11-year-old sanctions against Iraq to introduce "smart sanctions" targeted at military equipment July 5 Talks in Vienna between the UN and Iraq break down without agreement 1 August ...

Rudy Giuliani lives for weekends like this. The Obama administration's decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other 9/11 defendants in federal court gave the former mayor a chance to showcase his Tough Guy act on three separate Sunday morning shows.

Washington D.C., Nov 19, 2009 .- Countering critics who claim the Stupak Amendment will be altered or stripped from Congress' health care reform bill, Rep.